Isaiah 3

Look! The Lord, the LORD who commands armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah every support they lean on: their whole supply of food and their whole supply of water.

1For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands in for the personal name of Israel's God, which Hebrew scribes wrote but did not say aloud; "Lord" in ordinary letters is a different word meaning master. Verse 1 stacks both. "LORD of hosts" (rendered "who commands armies") is a military title: the hosts are the massed armies of heaven. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, the small southern kingdom that survived after the larger northern kingdom of Israel broke away; the two names together mean the whole country and its chief city.

2He will take away the strong man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the elder,

2The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

NoteThe list in verses 2–3 names the people a society leans on (its soldiers, judges, religious specialists and skilled men. Removing them, not just the food and water of verse 1, is the disaster. "The ancient" in the King James does not mean something old; it means an elder, a senior man whose age gave him a voice in public decisions. The "prudent" is more literally a diviner) someone who read omens to predict events. Ancient readers would have heard him listed as a normal fixture of public life, in the same breath as the judge and the prophet.

3the officer over fifty soldiers, the important man, the advisor, the skilled craftsman, and the man skilled in whispered charms.

3The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

NoteA "captain of fifty" commanded a small standing unit of fifty men, the basic block of an army. The last two items are genuinely uncertain. The Hebrew for "cunning artificer" can mean a skilled craftsman or a skilled worker of charms, the two senses share a root, and "eloquent orator" is literally "expert in whispering," which can mean a persuasive speaker or a mutterer of spells. Translations split between the two readings. Note that "cunning" in 1611 English meant skilled, with no suggestion of trickery.

4"I will put mere boys in charge as their leaders, and children will rule over them."

4And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5The people will push each other down, one person against another, each one against his neighbor. The young will act proudly toward the old, and the person of no standing toward the respected man.

5And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

6A man will grab hold of his brother in his father's house and say, "You still have a coat, so you be our ruler. Take charge of this pile of ruins."

6When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

NoteProperty passed and disputes were settled within the "father's house", the extended family or clan, several generations living as one unit. "Brother" here means a male relative of that household. Owning an outer cloak is the whole of the man's qualification: after the collapse the one relative who still has a garment on his back counts as the rich one, and so is pressed to take charge.

7On that day the brother will protest out loud, saying, "I cannot heal this. There is no food and no clothing in my own house. Do not make me the leader of the people."

7In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

Note"Heal" pictures the nation as a wounded body and the ruler as the man who binds up its injuries, a stock image for repairing a broken society. A ruler was expected to feed and clothe his dependants from his own household stores; the man's answer is that his own house is empty, so he cannot do the job.

8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because what they say and what they do is against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.

8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

Note"To provoke the eyes of his glory" is a Hebrew idiom: God's glory is his visible, weighty presence, and to defy it in full view of his eyes is deliberate, open contempt rather than a hidden fault.

9The look on their faces speaks against them. They show off their sin the way Sodom did; they do not hide it. Trouble is coming to them, for they have brought this disaster on themselves.

9The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

NoteSodom was the city in Genesis destroyed for its wickedness; by Isaiah's day its name was shorthand for evil done openly and without embarrassment. The charge is not the content of the sin but the brazenness: they advertise it rather than hiding it.

10Tell those who live right that it will go well with them, for they will enjoy the good that comes from what they have done.

10Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

11Trouble is coming to the wicked! It will go badly for them, for they will be paid back for what their own hands have done.

11Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Note"Woe" translates a Hebrew cry that was first of all a funeral wail, the sound made over a corpse. Pronouncing it over living people announces that they are as good as dead already; it is a lament in form, an announcement of doom in force.

12As for my people, mere children push them around, and women rule over them. My people, the ones who guide you are leading you the wrong way; they have ruined the road you were meant to walk.

12As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

NoteIn a society that expected authority to rest with adult men who headed households, rule by boys and by women signaled that the normal order had come apart, the point is the collapse of the expected structure, not a judgment on the ability of either. The Hebrew is also read a second way, since the same consonants can mean "creditors" or "extortioners" rather than "children," giving "my people's oppressors deal with them like children."

13The LORD takes his place to argue the case; he stands up to judge the people.

13The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

NoteThis is courtroom language. The Hebrew word behind "plead" names a formal lawsuit brought against someone; God stands up as the party laying the charge and also as the judge who will rule on it. The scene runs through verse 15.

14The LORD brings his charge against the elders and the officials of his people: "You are the ones who have eaten up the vineyard. What you stole from the poor is sitting in your houses.

14The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

Note"Elders" and "princes" are the same senior men and officials removed in verses 2–3: the local leadership who heard cases in the town gate. A vineyard took years to establish and was the classic family asset, so "eaten up the vineyard" carries both senses at once, the leaders have stripped the smallholders' actual vines, and they have consumed the nation itself, which prophets often pictured as God's vineyard.

15Why do you crush my people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor into the ground?" says the Lord GOD who commands armies.

15What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Note"Grind the faces" draws on the daily image of grain crushed between two millstones, the poor are the grain. The picture is of pressure applied steadily until nothing is left, not of a single act of violence.

16The LORD also says, "The daughters of Zion are proud. They walk with their necks stretched high and their eyes flirting, taking short, showy steps as they go, with the rings on their ankles jingling."

16Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

NoteZion was the hill Jerusalem was built on, and the name came to stand for the city and its people; "daughters of Zion" means the women of Jerusalem. The walk described is a deliberate display: head up, eyes working the crowd, and short showy steps, ankle chains linking the two feet forced a small tripping stride and set the ankle rings ringing, so the sound announced the walker before she was seen.

17So the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will strip them bare.

17Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

NoteBoth halves of the sentence are disputed. The first names a skin disease of the scalp, scabbing or scabbing sores. The second uses a rare Hebrew word: it may mean laying the forehead bare (shaving the head, which was done to captive and slave women and reversed the styled hair of verse 24) or it may mean exposing the genitals, the standard humiliation of women taken in a captured city. Translators divide, and the King James "discover their secret parts" takes the second reading. "Discover" in 1611 English means uncover, not find out.

18On that day the Lord will take away the fine things they show off: the rings that jingle on their ankles, the headbands, and the crescent-shaped charms,

18In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

Note"Bravery" in the King James means finery or showy display, not courage. What follows in verses 18–23 is a list of about twenty-one items of women's dress and jewelry, and the exact sense of many of the Hebrew words is unknown: they occur rarely or only here, and translations differ widely. The crescents were moon-shaped amulets, a shape associated with the moon god across the ancient Near East and worn as much for protection as for looks.

19the hanging pendants, the bracelets, and the veils,

19The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

20the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, and the charms worn for luck,

20The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

NoteThe "tablets" of the King James are small containers of scent, literally "houses of breath." The last item is literally "whisperings", amulets that had a charm spoken over them, worn to ward off harm. The King James guessed "earrings."

21the signet rings and the nose rings,

21The rings, and nose jewels,

NoteA signet ring carried a personal seal cut into its face. Pressed into wax or clay it served as a signature, so it marked its owner as someone whose word bound property and contracts.

22the fine robes kept for special days, the capes, the cloaks, and the handbags,

22The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

NoteThe "changeable suits" are clothes kept for festivals and changed into for the occasion, not everyday wear. "Crisping pins" was the King James guess at a word that elsewhere in the Bible means a bag or purse; most modern translations read it that way.

23the mirrors, the fine linen clothes, the turbans, and the shawls.

23The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

NoteMirrors were disks of polished bronze, not glass, the King James "glasses" means looking-glasses. Some ancient translators read the Hebrew instead as a sheer or transparent garment, and both readings are still defended.

24And this is what will happen: instead of sweet perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, a bald head; instead of a fine robe, rough cloth worn in mourning; instead of beauty, a burn mark.

24And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

NoteEach pair swaps a mark of wealth for a mark of captivity or grief. A girdle was the belt or sash that gathered a robe, and a well-dressed woman's was decorated; the word replacing it is uncertain and may mean a rope, as used on prisoners, or a tear. The "stomacher" was a costly outer robe. Sackcloth was coarse dark cloth of goat hair, worn next to the skin as the standard sign of mourning or disaster. The last word is disputed: it may mean a burn or a brand (captives and slaves were sometimes branded) or it may be a rare noun meaning shame.

25Your men will die by the sword, and your fighting men will fall in battle.

25Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

Note"Thy" is addressed to the city, spoken of throughout as a woman; her men are the citizens who would have manned the wall.

26The gates of Zion will cry out and grieve, and the city, stripped of everything, will sit on the ground.

26And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

NoteA city's gates were the space just inside the wall where courts sat, deals were struck and news was passed, the whole public life of the place. Gates that lament stand for a city with no one left in them. Sitting on the bare ground was the recognized posture of mourning and of a captive waiting to be led away, and it completes the picture of Jerusalem as a woman stripped of her finery in verses 18–23.